James Dobson’s ‘Focus On Only The Good Stuff’
By Brian A. Burns
It appears James Dobson is telling all Christians that the Old Testament, the book in which his views of our universe’s origin is shown, is nothing more than outdated gibberish that can be tossed aside. He and Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Dobson’s ‘Focus on the Family’, accused Barack Obama of distorting the message of Jesus, as Obama, in a 2006 speech to a Christian group, used references from the Old Testament which Dobson considers no longer apply since the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament trump the old. “I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said. Although, we have to wonder whose view is truly distorted, Obama’s or Dobson’s.
If the Bible is to be taken seriously Christians must view it as “the infallible word of God.” If they consider it as being written by humans, and may be edited at will, then we can easily chalk it up as nothing more than a book of ancient folklore with some moral homilies that fail to rival Aesop’s Fables, and do away with the entire thing. By ignoring certain passages that are stated as originating from their god’s own voice, which in essence is ignoring their god, then one can easily ignore the entire book. Most Christians would agree that they cannot simply ignore their god. After all, Jesus was the human incarnation of their god. To ignore their god would be to ignore Jesus, and I’m sure James Dobson would have a problem with that.
One portion of the Old Testament brought up by Obama in his speech, something the truly faithful must consider, is taken from Leviticus, where the Judeo-Christian god claims that slavery is perfectly acceptable. In Leviticus 25:44 the Judeo-Christian god states, “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.” 25:45 - “You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.” These are the words from James Dobson’s god, but he doesn’t want to admit it. Instead, he wants to do away with it, and seemingly the rest of the Old Testament which is the foundation for the religion he so vehemently defends as being ‘truth’.
It was best said that Christianity is the ‘delicatessen-religion’ because modern Christians tend to ignore the words from their god that they don’t approve of while happily accepting the rest as ‘truth’. And if their god was timeless, as they like to believe, then it would have known that slavery is immoral and an abhorrent injustice to humanity 2000 years ago as it is today. Without the Old Testament there is no New Testament, for without the tales of the coming of a messiah there’s no Jesus the messiah, but only Jesus the human. Without the Old Testament there is no Moses, and without him they are without their Ten Commandments. Without the Old Testament there is no Christian god.
But how can a person be truly devout when their God says one thing but then sends himself down as a human to say the opposite? Is a Christian supposed to follow the words of their god as the spirit, or their god as Jesus? When the god said, “…an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” which was later stricken by Jesus who commanded that his followers turn the other cheek, it told all that their god as a spirit was fallible, and his word ephemeral. The message rings even louder today as all of what was written then comes from a time of socially-third-world cultures, whose ideas of morality pale in comparison to those of modern times. The god as Jesus was a great man, I’m sure. He said that we should treat others in the way we would like others to treat us, but only in a much different Farsi tongue. It’s unfortunate that James Dobson cannot live up to this lesson, as he has influenced thousands to vote for a Republican backed war time and time again.
So it appears that Barack Obama has it more accurately than James Dobson. In light of Obama’s question which sparked Dobson’s gas, “Which sect’s version of Christianity should be taught in our schools?” it is best answered with ‘none’. With over 33,000 different sects of Christians across the globe it is apparent that there are many unknowingly confused people. If the religion had any merit there would not be so many divisions. There would be uniformity because people would understand the expectations of their god. If it had a god backing it, it would have come down centuries ago to straighten things out for his followers. It would’ve told them exactly what portion of its words they could ignore, and what they needed to follow. While it was here, I’m sure it would’ve stopped the Inquisitions, the Crusades, Hernando Cortez, Adolph Hitler (yes, he too was a Christian), and made a special visit to send George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to the gallows. While it was here it would’ve turned the tides of compassionless behavior, and rooted it deeply into those who speak out in its name, and crushed those who beat them down. I’m sure most Christians in Darfur and along the Sahel are wondering where their god is right now. I would suggest asking James Dobson, but it appears as if he has distorted the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology.
